Pakistan rested four seniors and have sent out a fairly young team for this year's Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, being played in Ipoh, Malaysia from March 9-17. The Greenshirts will face New Zealand, Australia, India, Malaysia and South Korea in the initial stage of the tournament. Pakistan's recent performances including a gold medal at the Asian Champions Trophy and a bronze medal at the Champions Trophy have raised the bar for the team and expectations are high.

Pakistan's coach, Hanif Khan, has said that the tournament will provide good exposure for the youngsters and be a good test for them.

Dawn.com met up with the hockey team before they left to participate in the Azlan Shah Cup - get to know who's who in Pakistan's national hockey team . - Photos by Sara Faruqi/Dawn.com, text by Tabinda Siddiqi/Dawn.com

Comments (2) Closed

Ahmed j

Mar 08, 2013 10:35am

All the players are from Punjab, covering only the area from Sialkot to Okara. The war on terror for the US has ruined the sports from the province of KPK. Great players like fullback Qazi Muhib from Bannu and centre half Ayaz and forward Musaddiq from Peshawar are few great players to remember.
There is also no representation from Karachi as well. Samiullah, Kalimullah and Hanif Khan were the greats.
One must question, what we achieved and what all is lost.